


The talk

by Daily_Scenarios



Series: Third time lucky [2]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, robert is out of prison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:08:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23156824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daily_Scenarios/pseuds/Daily_Scenarios
Summary: “If you don't want to...”“Course I want to.”- snapped Robert finally looking at him. -” It's just... it's my fault. That we're not married anymore. I pushed... and pushed... and I ended it. And I'm so sorry.” - he cried.“Hey, we talked about that. We said we deserved a fresh start. Didn't we?”“Yeah.” - sniffed Robert.“No more regrets.”Or...Aaron ended up proposing... what now?
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Series: Third time lucky [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1664566
Comments: 8
Kudos: 63





	The talk

“Will you marry me? Again.” - asked Aaron adding the last bit with a nod. He was blushing, and Robert was gobsmacked. He didn't expect this. Not now. He opened his mouth to say something but Seb's shouting interrupted the moment. 

“DADDY!!! ARE YOU COMING? YOU PROMISED!” - oh yeah, the castle he promised to build with them. He sighed as he stood up quickly, leaving Aaron confused.

“I'M COMING.” - he answered to Seb. - “I... I've gotta go... we... we talk about this later.” 

“Robert....” - said Aaron but by the time he said his name he was halfway gone already.

* * *

They didn't have a chance for a talk, not even after Andrew's mum picked him up, because the minute they left, Seb demanded food. And they both knew what it was like to live with a grumpy four-year-old, so they had dinner. Aaron suspected that Robert avoided him. Avoided his gaze, avoided touching him. He focused on Seb, chatting with him, but when it came to Aaron, it was like Robert ignored his whole presence. His theory proved itself when Robert willingly went with Seb to put him to bed. He also volunteered for the bath and reading him a bedtime story. Aaron had no choice but to clean up in the kitchen while Robert put Seb to bed. He didn't mind them spending all that time together, he just wished he could talk to his husband. To know what he thought.

Robert knew Aaron would ask him the minute he stepped into their bedroom, so at first, he went down to grab a beer. He should've known that Aaron would be there as well. He found his husband sitting at the kitchen table, with two beers opened already. He reached a bottle towards Robert, without saying a word.

“He's asleep?” - asked Aaron as he saw Robert take a sip before he sat down.

“Yeah.” - he smiled – “He was totally knackered.”

“I guess this playdate thingy turned out alright.”

“Yeah.” - said Robert taking another sip.

“Look...” - started Aaron, but Robert interrupted him the minute he swallowed.

“Do you really want that?”

“What? You mean marry ya? Are you for real?” - asked Aaron a little bit hurt. How could Robert think he wasn't serious.

“I just... I want to be sure I guess.” - he shrugged.

“Robert.” - said Aaron reaching out his hand to touch Robert's – “You know I meant it... you know it right?”

“I know.” - he sighed.

“So? Will ya?”

“I'm sorry.” - he said letting out a sob.

“Oi, what's wrong?” - asked Aaron sitting closer with his chair. He wrapped an arm around Robert, making him look at him. - “If you don't want to...”

“Course I want to.”- snapped Robert finally looking at him. -” It's just... it's my fault. That we're not married anymore. I pushed... and pushed... and I ended it. And I'm so sorry.” - he cried.

“Hey, we talked about that. We said we deserved a fresh start. Didn't we?”

“Yeah.” - sniffed Robert.

“No more regrets.”

“You know, you gave me this back the day I came home.” - said Robert twisting at his wedding ring. - “And to know that I willingly let this go...”

“I understand now.” - said Aaron – “I know how your brain works... I know you, remember?” - he smiled. - “Yeah it was a stupid thing to do... but... well... we never had it easy.”

“How can you forgive me like that?”

“Because I love ya. And I want us to be married. Not that... “ - he sighed taking a deep breath – “To me, we were always married, but... I want Seb to have a proper family. You're back for good, and if we're gonna have more kids in the future... “

“Aaron.” - said Robert with a broken voice and it made Aaron look at him immediately. - “This is your last chance to back out.”

“Why would I....this is a joke right?”

“I'm just sayi....”

“No, you're just being stupid.” - he said as he stood up and started pacing around the room. - “When will you get it through your head? I want you, you idiot. This.” - he said looking around – “This is our home, and that little man upstairs.” - he said pointing towards the stairs – “Is our son. I know being back is hard, I know sometimes you feel like it's all a bit too much. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'd do it all over again.... from the start.” - said Aaron with tears in his eyes. - “Even if I'd known about the shit we'd have to go through. If I'd known that we'd end up here, together after everything... I'd still do it.”

“Okay.” - said Robert standing up and pulling Aaron closer.

“Okay?”

“Let's get married.” - he answered smiling. Aaron swore he could hit him.

“You're such a wind up.” - he laughed as he wiped his eyes – “You make me believe that you don't want this...”

“Course I do.” - admitted Robert. - “No matter what... I would always want you.” - he said slowly. - “But maybe I just wanted to hear all the romantic bullshit you can come up with.”

“You're terrible.” - chuckled Aaron hitting his arm.

“I'm sorry... it's just... sometimes I can't escape from my own demons.”

“Let me help you then.” - said Aaron.

“You really want a third wedding?”

“Yeah, the sooner the better.”

“So no big party?”

“We had two weddings with big parties, I... I just wanna go down to a registry office, and do it.”

“Okay then, but... you know your mum's gonna murder us both if we don't tell her?”

“I don't want a fuss.”

“At least let her have a toast... afterwards obviously.”

“Okay, but we're not telling her before.”

“Why? Afraid she'd ruin it?”

“No, she wouldn't dare.”

“She must think you're mad.” - said Robert staring into thin air. - “Marrying the same bloke... three times...”

“Oi, I could say the same for you.”

“There's no one else I'd wanna marry.”

“I was hoping you'd say that.” - smirked Aaron leaning in. Their lips barely touched when they heard a little voice.

“Did he say yes?” - whispered Seb peeking from the stairs. He woke up and heard his dads talking so he decided to eavesdrop a bit.

“Oi mate, you should be asleep!”- hissed Aaron, but Seb only smiled at him all innocent - ”He did.” - he added after a few seconds. He knew his son was impatient to hear the answer.

“Wait, he knew?” - asked Robert. He looked at Seb who ran down the stairs grinning. - “Hey buddy, you didn't say a word.” - he said amused as he picked him up in his arms.

“Because it was a secret.” - he said looking at Aaron.

“That's right, and hey, it needs to be a secret for a little longer, alright?”

“But... he said yes.” - he pouted.

“Yeah, he did, it's just, we don't want anybody else to know it just yet.”

“Not even nana?”

“Especially not nana.” - told him Aaron. - “Go on, Daddy's gonna take you back to bed.”

“No, I wanna stay.”

“How about we all go and you get another story?” - tried Robert.

“Yay.” - smiled Seb. His dads shared a look before they headed upstairs.

* * *

“He's sleeping?” - asked Aaron as soon as Robert entered the room. They tucked Seb in together but Robert stayed there for an extra 10 minutes just in case he wakes up. He didn't.

“Yeah. For real this time.” - he smiled as he got into bed next to Aaron. Aaron wasted no time before he wrapped his arm around him, pulling him close.

“You okay?” - he asked quietly while his fingers drew random patterns on Robert's back.

“Yeah.” - he said breathing Aaron in – “You smell so good.” - he mumbled to his chest.

“Can we talk?” - asked Aaron carefully. - “About the wedding I mean.”

“Yeah.” - nodded Robert – “Thanks.” - he whispered.

“For what?”

“Calming me down, letting me rant about stuff.”

“Idiot.” - muttered Aaron tightening his hold around him before he kissed his head. - “You can always come to me, with anything, you know that right?”

“I know. It's just... I know it's been 4 months, but... sometimes it still feels...”

“New.” - said Aaron answering instead of him.

“A bit. But I want to get married.” - he said looking up at him. - "I really do."

“Good, because I meant it, the sooner the better. Besides, I'm not sure how long we can hold Mr Information back.” - he laughed referring to Seb. The kid loved speaking.

“Can't believe you really told him” - he laughed.

“I had to. He asked all these questions even before you got back home... about what if you go away again. He...”

“He wasn't sure I'd stay?”

“It's not like that... but... he doesn't know the details, does he? I guess it's a bit terrifying for a kid. To not know whether your dad stays with you or just... vanishes.”

“I'm not...”

“Don't take this personally, I'm just saying what he must have thought.”

“Okay.” - sighed Robert.

“So, I told him about my plan, but the timing was always off, and asking you after sex would've been a bit...”

“Cheesy?” - asked Robert with a massive smile.

“Yeah, something like that. I almost did though.” - he laughed.

“You did? When? The first night?”

“Yeah.”

“I knew something was off.”

“Of course it was... I was overwhelmed.” - chuckled Aaron stroking his back.

“I wanted to ask you as well.” - said Robert as he turned to his side. - “You just beat me to it.”

“So, we agree that it should only be the three of us this time?”

“Yeah, we can grab two people to be our witnesses there and then.” - agreed Robert.

“We gotta be careful with the suits. You know how this village can be. They see us and the secret's out.”

“Yeah, I know. How about we go away the day before? I book us a hotel.” - suggested Robert. - “We can tell them we take Seb for a little adventure.”

“Are you sure? I mean there will be a crowd.”

“I know... I haven't been out that much, but... I need to get used to it again, right? And I want this.” - he said grabbing Aaron's hand. - “And I want Seb to remember it.”

“He's gonna be so excited.”

“Even more excited than now?” - asked back Robert.

“Oh yeah.” - nodded Aaron.- “He told me he wants to dress up. Like proper adults. His words, not mine.” - he said smiling.

“He's grown so much.”- said Robert turning on his back, staring at the ceiling. - “I've missed a lot haven't I?”

“You missed... some. Not everything.”

“Aaron.” - he said with closed eyes before he turned his head to look at his husband. - “I promise that I'll be here for our future kids. For every single one of them. And I'm gonna make it up to Seb.”

“Hey, you... you don't need to make it up. He's fine. He's happy. And he loves you.” - said Aaron. - “Wait... you said kids... as in... plural?”

“Yeah. A whole football team remember?” - he smiled at Aaron.

“I love you.” - answered Aaron kissing him.

“Love you too. So, about the wedding...”

**Author's Note:**

> yeah, I'm definitely gonna write the wedding. It's gonna be the next part of this series.  
> let me know what you guys think!


End file.
